Yarn conditioning arrangement



May 9, 1967 E. ERB

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ATTORNEYS May 9, 1967 I E. ERB 3,318,013

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YARN CONDITIONING ARRANGEMENT Filed Jan. 6, 1964 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 9| & .2 g, 5 3 Ms. MM? .l' xwiflix 4 $11 5 Ill" 1", k ig 8 INVENTOR ERNST ERB ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,318,013 YARN CONDITIONING ARRANGEMENT Ernst Erb, Basel, Switzerland, assignor to Erba Maschinenbau A.G., Basel, Switzerland Filed Jan. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 335,993 Claims priority, applicatizon Switzerland, Jan. 9, 1963, 2 9/63 4 Claims. (Cl. 34-12) The process of damping wool yarns serves for two different purposes, first for merely fixing the twist obtained in spinning or twisting in order to avoid crimping in further processing or conditioning. To such end the material is damped directly on the cops or bobbins. For such purpose vacuum apparatus mostly are used today in which first the air is sucked oil? from the wound packages so that the steam may better and more quickly penetrate. For the second purpose, the yarn is damped in skeins so that it will swell or puff up to become more voluminous. To such end, the skeins are hung from rods or put on sieve plates so that the skeins will be accessible to the steam on all sides.

Such procedure requires much manipulation, especially in the case of yarns which already have been dyed in the slubbing or in flocks. In this case, first skeins have to be wound from the cops or throwing spools and tied up too by knotting the thread beginning and end to the ends of the ligature so thatthey can be well unwound again. As the skeins shall be wound in limited thickness only, the threads which derive from large cops or bobbins have to be cut mostly, which should be avoided by all means.

These great disadvantages and the great amount of handwork required for forming the skeins, introducing same into the damping apparatus and removing same therefrom in order to unwind them again after damping, have given rise to the provision of a more efficient procedure in which the material is passed in endless threads through a steam oven.

Many attempts have been made to damp yarn in continual passage, but such attempts mostly failed in that either the thread speed attained was inadequate or the passage paths for damping were too long or too complicated, as the yarn has to be exposed to the steam for a certain length of time depending on the thickness and nature thereof. In the case of the shrinking yarns which are used more and more, a further inconvenience is the pronounced shrinkage of the yarn length.

My present invention, therefore, includes a method of dressing or conditioning, for example of damping, yarns being fed continually into a treatment chamber and removed therefrom again.

Such method according to the invention is characterized in that the threads to be treated are laid down in ring form on to an endless, air-permeable and continually revolving transport band in order to form thereon a thread-material carpet comprising a plurality of continuous thread loops which overlap each other in the manner of roof tiles, which carpet then is turned over on its fiat side by changing its direction of movement in order to permit to draw the threads oil again from the initial carpet underside without interference.

My present invention further comprises means for carrying out the method outlined immediately above which are characterized by comprising a treatment chamber involving at least one endless air-permeable transport band for the thread material to be treated, further a device fed from yarn bobbins for forming thread loops which are deposited in overlapping and staggered relation on to the continually revolving transport band, reversing means for turning over on its fiat side the yarn material carpet formed by said thread loops, and if desired a thread 3,318,013 Patented May 9, 1967 ice winding device for drawing oil the treated threads from the depositing side of said carpet.

The staggered depositing of thread loops on the slowly revolving transport band affords a great thread length per unit of the feed length. Thereby is attained a high thread speed of the device for producing the thread loops and a slow feed for the thread material carpet itself so as to require only a short passage through the treatment chamber.

For laying-down the threads in rings or loops on the transport band, various devices known per se may be used, as the device described in U.S. Patent No. 2,958,- 920 of Sept. 29, 1959, with the difference, however, that the thread loops are laid down on a transport band and not on a revolving disc.

The invention also 'has the advantage that the threads arrive in the treatment chamber in the form of a thin thread-material carpet, whereby they may be treated, for example damped, not only more rapidly but also more uniformly than in procedures and methods known so far. Further, thead material of practically unlimited length may be treated by the procedure disclosed by the invention, as in the loop-laying device thread material of any desired length may be laid down in the form of rings or loops on the revolving transport band.

Three forms of my present invention are shown in the drawings which also serve for explaining the procedures of dressing or preparing the thread material. In the drawings FIG. 1 shows in side view and partly in section a first arrangement according to the invention for damping thread material,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view on a portion of said arrangement,

FIGS. 3 and 4 show in plan and side view respectively, a carpet formed by thread rings that are staggered or overlapping in the manner of roof-tiles, and

FIGS. 5 and 6 depict in a manner similar to FIG. 1, two further damping arrangements.

The apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 destined for damping thread material such as woolen yarn, comprises an elongated steam oven 1 through the end-faces of which passes an endless transport band 3 that extends in the longitudinal direction of the steam chamber 2. The band 3 is permeable to air or steam and to such end may consist of a fine wire mesh and runs around two end rolls 4, 5 of which roll 5 is driven to make band 3 revolve. Underneath the upper or pulling portion of band 3 are provided supporting idler rollers 6 that are journalled in the longitudinal sidewalls of oven 1 in parallel relation to the end rolls 4 and 5. The two longitudinal sidewalls of oven 1 also comprise supports for water containers 7 of V-cross-section which are disposed between the two portions of band 3 and provided with heating means 8 operated by electric current or steam-fed for the purpose of evaporating water. On the front end-face of oven 1 is provided a coiler 9 of known construction which comprises six cans 10 that form thread rings or loops, below which passes the upper section of band 3 in contact therewith. The thread material to be treated is wound in the form of cops or bobbins 11 which are arranged on a suitable support 12b.

When the apparatus is in operation, the coiler heads 9 draw thread material 12 from the cops 11 over a roller pair 13 and form thread rings or loops which they lay down on the band 3 that passes underneath same. Thereby are produced on band 3 and side-by-side, six threadmaterial carpets 12a comprising continuous thread loops that are staggered and overlapping in the manner of rooftiles and that are passed by the upper band portion through the steam chamber 2 in which they are damped. Immediately upon leaving the chamber 2, said carpets 12a "3 sf are turned through 180 by changing the direction of movement thereof. This is done with the aid of a carding roll of known construction 13a which coacts with end roll and by which the damped threads are drawn off again via idling or deflecting rollers 14, 15 of winders 16 of known construction and wound up in cake-form. Drawing-off of individual threads thus always takes place from the side of the last thread ring of the turned-over thread-material carpet, whereby the threads may be drawn off free of interference.

The main difference between the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and the apparatus just described with reference to FIG. 1 resides in the fact that the coiler heads do not lay down the thread loops formed thereby directly on the upper stretch of the endless transport band 3 but on the upper stretch of an endless auxiliary transport band 17 which is disposed above the respective end-portion of band 3 and of which the upper stretch in counter-run to the upper stretch of band 3 runs past the respective loop-laying head in contact with the underside thereof. Said auxiliary transport band 17 runs over two end-rolls 18, 19 of different size of which the larger, i.e., roll 19, is surrounded by a curved guide apron 20. Here the threadmaterial carpet formed by continuous thread rings or loops thus moves with its underside, that has been turned-up already, on to the upper stretch of band 3 that is passed through steam chamber 2 so that at the exit end the treated threads again may be drawn off without interference. The other differences between the two apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 are unimportant and shall not be further described here.

In the two arrangements described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5, the acts of turning up and down, respectively, the underside of the thread-material carpets formed by the coiler heads take place outside of the steam oven, namely in the layout according to FIG. 1 at the front end, and in the layout according to FIG. 5 at the rear end of the upper or pulling stretch of the transport band. It is also possible, however, to effect such turningover in the steam oven itself, as is the case in the arrangement shown in FIG. 6.

In the arrangement according to FIG. 6 are provided two endless superjacent transport bands 21, 22 revolving in opposite directions and projecting into oven 23 from the front thereof. The thread loops or rings formed by the coiler heads 10 here also are laid down on to an auxiliary transport band 24 which, however, moves in the same direction as the upper transport band 21 of which the pulling stretch takes over the thread loops from band 24-, whereby again, as mentioned above, is formed a threadmaterial carpet that is guided into the steam chamber of oven 23. The rear end-roll 25 of the upper transport band 21 is surrounded by a curved guide apron 26. When the transport bands revolve, the thread-material carpet at this point undergoes a change of direction and is deposited on the pulling stretch of the lower band 22, whereby said carpet passes a second time through the steam oven, but this time with its other flat side turned upwardly, which is of advantage for the damping effect. The treated threads here too then may be drawn off without interference from the end of the carpet at the delivery end of the lower transport band 22 by the wind-up device 16 to be wound-up via various auxiliary and deflecting rollers.

In the embodiments described above, it has been assumed that six thread-material carpets are formed on the transport band. It would also be possible to provide a separate transport band for each thread-material carpet, which could be passed through an oven of its own if desired, whereby the operation of the arrangement with respect to the various thread-material carpets would be more independent.

Finally, the thread material after having been treated in the treatment chamber does not have to be wound-up in cake form, as in the embodiments described above. It would be possible, for example, to roll the various thread-material carpets after their treatment on to a roll to serve as model or pattern for further treatment of the thread material then may be drawn off without interferterial is wound into balls. Also with such a pattern the thread material they may be drawn off without interference always from the last threaded ring or loop that forms the end of the turned-up thread-material carpet.

I claim:

1. A method of dampening yarns and filaments such as wool and synthetic yarns which will be damaged if they have sharp bends therein or pressure exerted thereon at localized points when they are heated during the dampening, comprising the steps of laying the yarn to be treated on an endless belt while positively guiding the yarn into accurate and substantially identical loops with smoothly curved peripheries while at the same time moving the belt at a speed so that the loops overlap without the overlying loops exerting localized pressure on underlying loops, turning the row of loops upside down and laying it on an endless air permeable belt, and conveying the row of overlapping loops through a treatment chamber and dampening the yarn in the chamber, whereby when the row of loops emerges from the treatment chamber the loops can be drawn off from the top of the row without interference.

2. An apparatus for dampening yarns and filaments such as wool and synthetic yarns which will be damaged if they have sharp bends therein or pressure exerted thereon at localized points when they are heated during the dampening, comprising a treatment chamber for applying a dampening agent to the yarns, at least one endless air permeable belt running through the chamber for conveying the yarns through the chamber, driving means coupled to the belt for driving the belt, a yarn coiler at the end of the belt from which the belt moves into the chamber, an auxiliary endless belt beneath said yarn coiler and having the upper run thereof running in the same direction as the upper run of the endless belt and substantially aligned therewith for conveying a row of loops onto the endless belt, the yarn coiler positively guiding yarn to be treated into a row of accurate and substantially identical loops on said auxiliary endless belt, said loops having smoothly curved peripheries and the loops overlapping without the overlying loops exerting localized pressure on the underlying loops.

3. An apparatus for dampening yarns and filaments such as wool and synthetic yarns which will be damaged if they have sharp bends therein or pressure exerted thereon at localized points when they are heated during the dampening, comprising a treatment chamber for applying a dampening agent to the yarns, at least one endless air permeable belt running through the chamber for conveying the yarns through the chamber, driving means coupled to the belt for driving the belt, a yarn coiler at the end of the belt from which the belt moves into the chamber, the yarn coiler positively guiding yarn to be treated into a row of accurate and substantially identical loops, said loops having smoothly curved peripheries and the loops overlapping without the overlying loops exerting localized pressure on the underlying loops, and an auxiliary endless belt below said yarn coiler and above said endless belt and running in the opposite direction to that of said endless belt, yarn coiler forming said loops on the upper run of said auxiliary endless belt, and a guide apron around the end of said endless belt toward which said the upper run of said auxiliary belt moves, said guide apron acting on the ro wof loops to guide them around the end of the auxiliary endless belt onto said endless belt, whereby the row of loops is turned over before it enters the treatment chamber.

4. An apparatus for dampening yarns and filaments such as wool and synthetic yarns which will be damaged if they have sharp bends therein or pressure exerted thereon at localized points when they are heated during the dampening, comprising a treatment chamber for applying a dampening agent to the yarns, an upper endless air permeable belt running into the chamber for conveying the yarns into the chamber, a lower endless air permeable belt in said chamber and running out of said chamber for conveying the yarns out of the chamber, said lower belt being just below the upper belt, a guide apron around the end of said upper endless belt within said chamber, a yarn coiler at the end of the upper belt from which the upper belt moves into the chamber, the yarn coiler positively guiding yarn to be treated into a row of accurate and substantially identical loops on said upper endless belt, said loops having smoothly curved peripheries and the loops overlapping without the overlying loops exerting localized pressure on the underlying loops, the said guide apron guiding the row of loops around the end of said upper belt onto the lower belt, whereby the row of loops is turned over within the treatment chamber.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,303,476 12/1942 Kornegg 34l59 2,486,903 11/1949 Wormell 34--155 X 2,494,731 1/ 1950 Vincent et al. 2,598,000 5/1952 Knopp et al. 3423 FOREIGN PATENTS 195,019 1/ 1958 Austria. 948,945 9/ 1956 Germany.

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, 111., Primary Examiner. C. R. REMKE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A METHOD OF DAMPENING YARNS AND FILAMENTS SUCH AS WOOL AND SYNTHETIC YARNS WHICH WILL BE DAMAGED IF THEY HAVE SHARP BENDS THEREIN OR PRESSURE EXERTED THREON AT LOCALIZED POINTS WHEN THEY ARE HEATED DURING THE DAMPENING, COMPRISING THE STES OF LAYING THE YARN TO BE TREATED ON AN ENDLESS BELT WHILE POSITIVELY GUIDING THE YARN INTO ACCURATE AND SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL LOOPS WITH SMOOTHLY CURVED PERIPHERIES WHILE AT THE SAME TIME MOVING THE BLET AT A SPEED SO THAT THE LOOPS OVERLATP WITHOUT THE OVERLYING LOOPS EXERTING LOCALIZED PRESSURE ON UNDERLYING LOOPS, TURNING THE ROW OF LOOPS UPSIDE DOWN AND LAYING IT ON AN ENDLESS AIR PERMEABLE BELT, AND CONVEYING THE ROW OF OVERLAPPING LOOPS THROUGH A TREATMENT CHAMBER AND 